I'm really really sorry I kept you waiting that long. I don't have a valid excuse, but I guess the Story of My Own Life was more important to 'write' than anything else in those months. Now I'm good and I hope you're still interested in reading this fanfic.
Chapter 11. Recovery
Two weeks later…
"I don't know how I would have gone through this if it wasn't for you, Kurt." Blaine was sitting on the corner of his bed getting ready for one of his last medical check ups.
"In the beginning you didn't even want me to help you…"
"I'm glad you insisted."
"Hey! Get excited! You're so close to be completely healed. I mean… the rehabilitation process will still go on and your cast on your arm will still remain for a little longer, but today hopefully they will tell you that there is no longer the risk of paralyzation when you move your head…"
"At least there was no fissure in the femur as initially thought."
"So you just need to deal with the cast on your arm for a little while longer."
"Give me your hands," said Blaine.
Kurt already panicked. He didn't want the incident from a couple of weeks happen again. "Why?"
"I want to try if I can walk again. I feel like I have regained the power to do that."
"No no no. We're not going to do that," he said slightly relieved that it was only that.
"Please."
"No Blaine. Not even your puppy face is going to change my mind. I'd do everything… but that. What if I can't hold you when you lose your balance? Don't risk it, please."
"Fine," he snorts.
Both young men treated each others as if the kiss had never happened two weeks ago. They never had a conversation about it nor a second attempt. From that on, the relationship was more distant than before and Kurt stayed professional all the time he helped him. Both tried to hide the awkwardness they felt.
"So now let's get you into that wheelchair and let's drive to the hospital. Your friend is already waiting."
In Blaine's friend Sarah's car…
"Hey babe." Blaine greets her. "This is my friend and flatmate Kurt. I think I told you about him.
Some weeks ago on set of Meeting by Fate…
"He's adorable. You know when you smile you get those cute dimples so he actually has that too but only on one side and only when he's really happy. Happy like that day when I took him on one of those city tour buses. I actually don't get to see that very often…" He sighs.
"Do I sense a little crush on a teenager here?"
"What? No. Of course not. I have a boyfriend who I love very much."
"…But?"
"There is no but," He looked over to Sarah which pulled her I-do-not-believe-you look on her face so he immediately turned away. "…but he's different from everyone else. I like that." He smiled at her.
Back in the car…
"Oh sure! I remember that conversation about his cute dimples."
"Sarah!" Blaine shouted.
"Sorry, but you were right. I mean… about those things you don't want me to mention. Whatever… let's get you in that car."
Blaine was a little embarrassed and was glad that Kurt didn't ask about it.
In the hospital…
"Good news!" The doctor enters the room with some newly made radiographs and pins them on the negatoscope. "There is no visible fissure in any of your vertebras. It's safe to say that your neck is completely healed. However, that doesn't mean that you can move and do whatever you did before, just right now. There will occasionally appear pain."
"Does that mean I can take this off?", he said pointing to the brace which is still firm on his neck.
"Let's try."
The doctor moves closer to him and takes the brace off. "Done it is… Now try to move your head to the right."
Blaine does as he was told. "Ouch…"
"Don't over-do. Only move it until you begin to feel the pain." Blaine does so. "That's it. And now to the left." He moved his head very carefully to the left. "Very good. You will need to do this as often as you can so your muscles start to recover."
"What about walking?"
"Before you can do this, you will need to regain the power there too," he points to his legs, "but don't worry, that's why rehabilitation is for."
"Is it stationary or can I come and go every day?"
"Do you have someone who can drive you there safely?"
Blaine looks to Kurt.
"I only have a provisional driver's license. It's not valid in the USA until I take a test here, I think."
"Oh… well then I might have to ask someone else."
In Sarah's car on the way back home…
"There is no way I could drive you every day, honey."
"It's not every day, it's only 3 days a week."
"On which days do you have it?"
" Monday, Wednesday and Friday."
"I could drive you there on Friday. You know how busy it is on set. I can't just come and go when I want. And now that you're not there, the writers have even written more parts for me and the others to fill the missing spot which is your storyline. You know how it is and I really hope you recover quickly." She said harsh.
"Right… because it was my fault." He snapped.
"No… Blaine… sorry. I didn't mean it that way. It's just…" She paused. "It's just that it did really happen in a bad moment."
"Look, we just were in the wrong place at the wrong time. No need to fight over this. I'm sure Blaine will find someone who can bring him to rehabilitation so he can come back as soon as possible," said Kurt.
"Maybe I don't even want that anymore. All this fame has brought me so much crap so far. A failed relationship, stress, pressure and so on."
"But it also brought you new friends, new experiences and last but not least a damn good amount of money so stop being so pouty," Sarah said.
"Money and fame is not as important to me than the relationships I used to have before all that."
Kurt placed his hand from behind on Blaine's shoulder who was seated in front of him in the passenger seat. That calmed him visibly down. Sarah parked the car in the underground car park of Blaine's apartment.
"Let's get you off." Sarah took the wheelchair out of the trunk of her car. Kurt opened Blaine's door and they stared at each other for a moment and didn't notice that Sarah was waiting.
How can this person calm me down by one single touch?
"Ahem…" Sarah cleared her throat.
"Oh! Sorry. Yeah, let's get you in that." Both guys smiled.
As they managed to get him to lay down on the sofa, Sarah apologized again and said her good bye's to the boys.
"It was nice meeting you, Kurt. You're a good guy. Keep an eye on him for me." She winked and gave Blaine a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Will do."
Blaine fell asleep the minute Kurt brought him his pillow and didn't wake up until a nightmare woke him up. Kurt was studying for a test in the living room and saw him startling. He walked over and kneeled down to him. "Hey. Is everything okay?"
"No."
"Bad dream?"
Blaine nodded. "Can you help me sit?"
He helped him and brought him some fresh brewed tea.
"Mmm. What is this?"
"A special nightmare tea. My mom used to bring me a cup of this every time I had a nightmare or couldn't sleep. I maintained this ritual until today.
The young man took another sip and stared out of the big window. The sun was setting.
"Was it about the accident?"
Blaine nodded. "But I feel how they are losing in intensity. It was worse at the hospital."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Didn't want to sound like a complete idiot and didn't want you to worry about me."
"I did anyways."
"I know. And I did too about you." He took another sip. "You're awesome. You know that? I mean, how you managed all that… it's impressive. I don't think I could have done it if I would have been you."
"I'm sure you'd have done the same thing for someone you care about. Not meaning that you'd have done it for me, but for someone you really like and care about like your closer friends."
Blaine took the cup carefully with his injured hand and held the other hand out to Kurt. Initially he didn't quite know what he wanted but eventually he got it and placed his hand in the hand of the other man who placed them on the sofa. "I care about you and you're definitely one of my closer friends."
They both smiled. "That's nice to hear." Kurt somehow looked for a reason so he could take his hand out of his. It still felt uncomfortable and weird. "Do you want some more?" He pointed to the cup with the hand which was in Blaine's.
"You're somehow avoiding me, aren't you?"
"Why?"
"Is it still because of that stupid kiss? I already told you that I'm sorry and that I was caught up in the moment. It didn't mean anything."
"See? That's exactly the point. I don't believe that there is a single kiss in this world that didn't mean something. You're lying to yourself."
"Can we please forget that day and start again? I don't see why it's so bad if I want to be affectionate with a friend. That's what good friends do, don't they? But every time you flinch away, you make me feel like an awful person. I'm not into you, you're clearly not into me, so hurray! We can be friends without worrying if we can do this or that."
"You're right. It was stupid of me. Friends?"
"Amazing friends."
Both guys didn't notice that they were in denial about their feelings.
The next early morning. Kurt made breakfast and helped Blaine to the table with the wheelchair.
"Are you absolutely sure that I can leave you alone for some hours?"
"Definitely."
"Promise you won't get out of that wheelchair."
"Do you want me to make a pinky promise?"
Kurt held his pinkie finger out to Blaine. "Yes, I would like that very much."
Blaine took it with his healthy pinkie. "I promise not to move an inch, unless I have certain urges."
"And?"
"And I promise to give you a call if something is wrong." He rolled his eyes.
"Okay. I'm relieved now."
It seemed as if everything went back to normal.
"By the way… have you thought about someone who can drive you to physical therapy?"
"My brother."
"Your brother? You have a brother?" Kurt said with wide eyes.
"Yes. He's making television commercials and all that stuff. I talked with him yesterday night for the first time after six years."
"What took you so long? I mean, it's your brother and-"
"Kurt, let's talk about that later. You're going to be late."
"Alright."
Kurt leaves for University.
On the campus…
"Do you think you could help me in that? I figured that this subject is not so different to what we are currently doing. I really could use some help here after being away for so long." Kurt asked his friend Adam who he met at the cupcake store.
"Actually… that's what I wanted to ask. What happened to you all this time?"
"Uhm, a friend and I got into a car crash and we were at the hospital for a while."
"But I saw you around a couple of times… healthy…"
He thought very carefully about what he should say.
"My friend got it worse than me and I stayed at home to take care of him."
"Is he studying at the UCLA as well?"
"No, he's already working on stuff. He's older than us."
"Oh. Okay."
"So when do you think we can go through the theory?" Kurt asked to change the subject.
"Will you be here in the next days?"
"I'm not sure. I just came to take a test."
"Maybe you want me to come over while you have to look after your friend? I have three younger siblings living in my home. I guess that's not so ideal."
He panicked because he was not sure if he was allowed to do that. "Oh…uhm. I don't think he would want that, to be honest. Can't we just go to your mum's shop or somewhere else?"
"Sure."
The weeks went by. It was already in the middle of November. Kurt got to meet Blaine's brother Cooper who turned out to be a perfect brother. According to Blaine, he has changed a lot and he wished he was like that some years ago. He didn't get much more information about what happened in the past. He drove him to physical therapy and stayed with him when Kurt had to go to College. Blaine was improving a lot. One day Kurt got home and saw his friend making his first steps after a long time.
"Blaine!" Kurt said surprised when he saw Blaine walking out of the bathroom very slowly and holding on to the wall. Cooper was behind him in case he fell. "Wow! I'm so proud of you!"
"Thank you." He said as he walked to the sofa and sat down.
"Do you mind if I go, now that Kurt is back?"
"No, of course not. And thank you for everything."
"That's fine." Cooper patted him on the shoulder.
As soon as Blaine's older brother exited the apartment, Kurt sits down next to Blaine and gives him a big hug. "I'm so so proud of you. You're doing so great."
Blaine puts his two arms around Kurt's neck and that was when the younger noticed that something was different. "Where is your cast on your arm?"
"Oh… didn't I tell you that they were going to take it off today?"
"Nope, but anyways… that's amazing." He said excited and smiled. "Welcome back to normal life, honey."
Blaine still had his arms around Kurt's neck and he leaned forward to place a kiss on Kurt's cheek. He then placed his head on his shoulder. "I don't know in which dark hole I'd be right now if it wasn't for you helping me getting back. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome."
Kurt's phone rings and ruins a lovely moment between two 'friends'. He sighs and lets off from the hug.
"My dad… I've waited for this call all day. I'll be back in a minute."
"Sure."
Kurt walks to his room and leaves the door a little bit open.
"Hey dad."
After the usual 'how-are-you-what-are-you-doing' conversation, Burt has some news for Kurt.
"Son, I gotta tell you something." He paused. "There has someone unexpectedly come into my life. Someone I really care about and love. Her name is Carole and I met her even before you went to America. I wanted to be sure before I tell you and now I wanted to let you know that I want to ask her to marry me, if that's okay with you."
"Dad, if you think she is the right one for you, than I'm truly happy and excited for you and also excited to get to know her."
"Yes, but your mom…"
"She would have wanted to see you happy same as me. So go ahead, okay? I'm really happy."
Burt let a sigh out. "Thanks, Kurt. What was it you were going to ask me?"
"Uhm… so I kind of noticed that it would be great and somehow important to be able to drive around the city by car. Buses are great but I still have to walk a lot and they don't stop where I need them to. You know that I have a provisional driver's license and it's not valid in the USA unless I take the test I couldn't take when I was still in the UK."
"Yes?"
He once again paused. "Do you think you could lend me some money extra?"
"Kurt, you know how it is and now that I'm going to ask Carole to marry me, I'm saving every penny. And even if I'd give you the money, you still have no car. Or where do you want to get one?"
"I don't know. Maybe rent some?"
"That's going to be too expensive and for that time period, I don't think that's profitable. You have your car waiting for you here and as soon as you're back you can take the test. I'm sure it's even cheaper than across the sea."
"Maybe you're right. Sorry. I shouldn't even have asked."
"Kurt, if you really think that you need one, then I'll see how I can get that money…"
"No, really. It's okay. You were right. It doesn't really pay off for the few months left here. Don't worry."
After some minutes they hang up and Blaine opens his door.
"Hey. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I was just going to the bathroom and I heard you talking about… well… about what you were talking. I want to give you the money." He sat down on Kurt's bed.
"No, Blaine, that-"
"Let me finish. It's the least I could do after all you've done. And I agree with you that a car is really needed here."
"Yeah, but still I have no car after I pass the test. If I pass it."
"You will and I'm sure we will find you one."
"I can't accept that."
"I'm going to drag you and to force you to take the test if I have to."
"Well, thank you, I guess." He went for a hug again and again the phone was ringing. This time it was Blaine's.
"Sorry." He said and picked up the phone. It's Sarah who wants to know how's he doing and if everything was okay.
"Oh and Sarah! There is another thing…" Blaine tried to get up from the bed but he didn't succeed with the phone in one hand.
"Wait, I'll leave you alone." Said Kurt and walked out of his room, closing the door behind him.
"This guy is incredible. He understands me without words. Ahm… anyway. Do you think we could get Kurt's birthday present next week?" He whispered.
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